


Just in Case

by jedipati



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aziraphale's Bookshop (Good Omens), Aziraphale's bookstore has a guard snake, Crowley is smart, Demon Crowley (Good Omens), Gen, Mischief, Snake Crowley (Good Omens), The bookshop, a thief chooses the wrong store to try to rob
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-18 00:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20630192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedipati/pseuds/jedipati
Summary: Aziraphale is away for a few days and a rash of store robberies means Crowley decides to hang out in the bookshop, just in case.  It's a good thing he does.





	Just in Case

**Author's Note:**

> Occasionally, I ask for prompts on my tumblr, and the last go-around, someone sent me a Good Omens prompt. This little fic is the result of the prompt.
> 
> Prompt: someone breaks into Aziraphale's shop because they know he's gone for a few days. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Crowley was either asked or took it upon himself to watch the shop while his angel is away

Crowley looked up from the ancient- and he meant that literally- treatise on Greek philosophy he’d been reading when he heard something from the front of the shop.

Aziraphale was on a short trip to Germany to do both their jobs- a blessing in Hamburg and a temptation in Kiel. A day after he’d left, Crowley had decided that the rash of burglaries in Soho meant that the bookstore, with all Aziraphale’s rare books and scrolls, shouldn’t be left unoccupied.

It wasn’t much of a chore, Aziraphale had many, many books his angelic comrades would declare blasphemous, and many more that also appealed to Crowley’s taste. Aziraphale never minded when Crowley read one of his books, or even when he took one home for a while. Crowley always returned them. He wasn’t as likely to lose himself in a book as Aziraphale, but if he found something interesting, he could find himself looking up from the book only to see a full day had passed.

But this… something had pulled him out of the book, and that something was not good.

He could hear someone moving around the front of the store. He flicked his tongue out, just to make sure it wasn’t Aziraphale, or another angel.

He could only smell humans. He rose to his feet, smiling wickedly. This was exactly why he’d decided to camp out at the store.

Time to have some fun.

He prowled out to the front, careful to remain unseen.

One man was searching through the books, taking older ones and leaving some truly valuable ones behind. Crowley couldn’t expect him to know which ones were worth the most, of course, but he still curled his lip at the way the man was treating Aziraphale’s books.

Crowley tilted his head for a moment before making his decision. A second later, he had collapsed down into the first form he had taken on this planet, his oldest form.

He hissed, loud enough that the thief heard him and paused. The man was smart, he didn’t say anything, but he looked around.

Crowley allowed himself to be heard as he slithered toward the man, hissing lowly.

This man had no right to the books, no right to be in the store at all, and Crowley was going to ensure that he knew it.

Finally, he was just out of the man’s sight, and he paused, letting the man’s imagination run wild.

Then he moved, striking from the shadows as fast as the snake he was.

He was a big snake, always had been, and he could easily wrap around a full grown man several times. Despite that, he wasn’t a constrictor. No, Crowley was a highly venomous serpent, and he lunged as if he was going to bite the man. Not that he would. The man probably tasted bad, and it would be Hell to get the taste out of his mouth.

The man shrieked and dropped the bag of books as he scrambled for the door. Crowley chased him the entire way, mock striking several times for emphasis.

Once the man had slammed the door shut in the hopes that the snake couldn’t reach him, Crowley stopped. He chuckled to himself as he resumed his mostly-human form. He looked around, at the books scattered around and the bag the thief had left behind. A second later, the books returned to their shelves in shame at being caught on the floor.

As an afterthought, he snapped his fingers. The thief would get caught at his next burglary attempt, and he’d spend a good amount of time behind bars.

It was only what the man deserved, for attempted to steal from Aziraphale’s shop.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed this little moment- Crowley sure did, though the would-be thief didn't.


End file.
